People’s Parks

The late Hazel Conway was the author of the first edition of this book, published by Cambridge University Press in 1991. After an early career in technical journalism she moved into education in architectural and design history, becoming Principal Lecturer in the School of Art History at what is now De Montfort University, Leicester. As a freelance architectural historian she lectured and led study tours widely and was a consultant or office-holder for many bodies including the Garden History Society, Victorian Society, English Heritage and the National Heritage Lottery Fund Paul Rabbitts is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of the Royal Historical Society and Founder and Chair of the Parks Management Association. He has a career in parks management and has worked as a consultant in the parks and leisure sector. Having graduated in Geography he holds a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture from Edinburgh University. The author of over 30 books, he is also a Director and Trustee of the Gardens Trust, author and lecturer on public parks and a renowned expert on the Victorian and Edwardian bandstand. He is an avid and passionate advocate for the role public parks play within our communities.

• Introduction - Hazel Conway and Paul Rabbitts1)Public parks and municipal parks2)The need for parks3)Pioneering parks development4)The park movement5)Design and designers6)Lodges, bandstands and the cultivation of virtue7)Local pride and patriotism8)Plants and park maintenance9)Permitted pastimes10)Recreation grounds, parks and the urban environment11)Public parks 1885 -191412)Later municipal park designers13)Garden cities and the new towns movement14)Sport, physical activity and recreation in public parks in the inter-war years15)Parks management - a changing perspective16)Decline, revival and renewal - the role of parks in 21st century BritainAppendix A Summary of main legislation promoting early park developmentAppendix B Chronology of main municipal and public park developments between 1800 and 1885BibliographyAbout the authorsNotesAcknowledgement of subscribers and supportersIndex

This very handsome, well-designed, and superbly illustrated volume gives us a pretty good and comprehensive flavour of the Victorian public park, with its often splendid buildings.